Gathering of European hackers in Geneva

Gathering of European hackers in Geneva

Hackers from across Europe flocked to Geneva this weekend, not to play havoc with Swiss computers but to test their ethical hacking skills.

The sixth annual Insomni’hack ethical hacking competition, organised by IT security firm SCRT, drew over 300 hackers who battled for hours to solve a range of fiendish computer security challenges.

“This is essentially to have fun and learn,” 32-year-old Oriol Carreras from Barcelona told AFP. He hopes Seoul and Moscow — hotbeds of hacking on both sides of the law — might be the location for future competitions.

“People have to try to connect to a website without the user’s name and password; enter a file without the decoding key; intercept communications and read the content of these communications.”

This year saw participants from Ukraine, Spain, Germany, France and other countries. Three of the best hacking teams in the world were present, including the winners of another famed competition, “Dragon Sector”, who are mostly from Poland.

Hackers from across Europe flocked to Geneva this weekend, not to play havoc with Swiss computers but to test their ethical hacking skills.

The sixth annual Insomni’hack ethical hacking competition, organised by IT security firm SCRT, drew over 300 hackers who battled for hours to solve a range of fiendish computer security challenges.

“This is essentially to have fun and learn,” 32-year-old Oriol Carreras from Barcelona told AFP. He hopes Seoul and Moscow — hotbeds of hacking on both sides of the law — might be the location for future competitions.

“People have to try to connect to a website without the user’s name and password; enter a file without the decoding key; intercept communications and read the content of these communications.”

This year saw participants from Ukraine, Spain, Germany, France and other countries. Three of the best hacking teams in the world were present, including the winners of another famed competition, “Dragon Sector”, who are mostly from Poland.